Church of All Souls, Bolton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Church of All Souls, Bolton
All Souls Church, Bolton, from the northeast
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OS grid reference	SD 713,108
Location	Astley Street, Bolton, Greater Manchester
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
Website	Churches Conservation Trust
History
Founder(s)	Thomas Greenhalgh
Dedication	All Souls
Consecrated	1881
Architecture
Functional status	Redundant
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	26 April 1974
Architect(s)	Paley and Austin
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1878
Completed	1881
Construction cost	£16,500 (equivalent to £1,190,000 in 2021)
Closed	1986
Specifications
Materials	Brick with sandstone dressings, slate roofs

The Church of All Souls is a special old church located on Astley Street in Bolton, England. It's an Anglican church, which means it belongs to the Church of England. This building is considered very important, so it's protected as a Grade II* listed building. This means it has a lot of historical and architectural value. The church is now looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust. Since 2010, it has been turned into a helpful community center for local people.

Building the Church: Early History

The Church of All Souls was built between 1878 and 1881. A wealthy mill-owner named Thomas Greenhalgh paid for it. He used money he inherited from his brother, Nathaniel, who passed away in 1877. This church was one of two in the area paid for with this inheritance. The other church was St Saviour's.

The total cost for the church was about £23,000. This included everything: the building, its decorations, the stained glass windows, the organ, and even the walls around the property. This amount would be worth a lot more money today!

During the late 1800s, many people moved to this area to work in the mills. The church was built to serve these growing communities. The famous architects Paley and Austin from Lancaster designed the church. They planned it so about 800 people could sit inside. Everyone would have a good view and could clearly hear the sermon. The church was officially opened in 1881 by Dr J. Fraser, who was the Bishop of Manchester. Not many changes have been made to the church since then. A special memorial was added later to remember the people from the church who died in the First World War.

Church Design: Architecture

The Church of All Souls is built from brick with special stone decorations. The inside also has beautiful stone details. The roofs are made of slate.

Outside the Church: Exterior Features

The church has a long main part called a nave. It also has a chancel at the east end, which is where the altar is. There's a special room for the organ on one side and a chapel and vestry (a room for clergy) on the other. At the west end, there's a tall tower with a porch and a small stair turret. The church does not have aisles, which are the side passages you often see in churches.

The tower is very tall, about 118 feet (36 meters) high. At the bottom of the tower, there's a main door with a decorative band above it. There's also a large window with three sections. The porch on the north side has a pointed roof. Higher up, the tower has round windows and bell openings. The top of the tower has a decorative wall and pointed decorations called crocketed pinnacles at each corner.

The main part of the church (the nave) has strong supports called buttresses. At the corners of the east end, there are more tall, pointed pinnacles. The windows in the nave have two rows of three sections each. The windows in the chapels are flat at the top. The chancel windows also have two rows, with different numbers of sections. A decorative wall runs around the top of the chancel.

Inside the Church: Interior Features

One of the most amazing things about the Church of All Souls is its inside. It was built without any pillars! This makes it one big, open space, about 52 feet (16 meters) wide. This is one of the widest open spaces in any parish church in England. The architects designed it this way so everyone could see the altar clearly and hear the sermon well.

At the back of the church, there's a small balcony. To create such a wide open space, the wooden roof has a very clever and strong design. It looks like a rib vault (a ceiling with arched ribs). This special roof is supported by octagonal (eight-sided) pillars between the windows.

The stone screen behind the altar, called a reredos, has carved panels. Some of these panels have prayers written on them. The font (where baptisms happen) and the reredos were designed by John Roddis. The wooden choir stalls, pews (benches), organ case, altar, and pulpit (where the sermon is given) were all designed by the architects.

The stained glass windows in the apse (the curved part of the chancel) show scenes from the New Testament in the Bible. These beautiful windows were designed by the architects and made by a company called Clayton and Bell. They were made to remember Thomas Greenhalgh's brother, Nathaniel. Other stained glass windows, made in 1887, show figures of Faith and Hope.

The church has a large organ with two keyboards, built in 1881. There are also eight bells in the tower, all made in 1881 by a company called John Taylor & Co.

Modern Times: Recent History

During the 20th century, the number of people living in the local area started to decrease. Because of this, in 1962, the church's parish (its local area) was combined with another church's parish. In 1970, some stained glass windows in the tower were removed because they had been damaged. These windows showed scenes from the Creation story.

The Church of All Souls closed as a church in 1986. It was then taken over by the Churches Conservation Trust, which protects important old churches. The building has since been updated and, in December 2014, it opened as a business and community center. A small charity called All Souls Bolton now manages it.

See also

• List of churches in Greater Manchester
• Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester
• Listed buildings in Bolton
• List of ecclesiastical works by Paley and Austin
• List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in Northern England